The present invention relates to a container for magnetic tape cassettes.
More particularly, it relates to such a container which has several receiving compartments for magnetic tape cassettes, separated from one another by base plates and a lockable slider member ejectable by a spring to a position in which the magnetic tape cassette can be removed.
Containers of the above mentioned general type are known in the art. The German document DE-PS 2,248,408 discloses a storage container for magnetic tape cassettes in which the magnetic tape cassettes are located flat on a slider member movable against a spring force into the container housing and then locked. Locking projections are arranged at a distance from one another side-by-side on the slider member, or one behind the other where the magnetic tape cassettes are inserted longitudinally. The locking projections engage the hub on recording tape reels of the magnetic tape cassettes to prevent them from turning. The locking projections are rigid. Therefore, the slider member has to be ejected a corresponding distance out of the housing in order to remove the magnetic tape cassette or to place it on the slider member from above.
The German document DE-PS 2,462,769 discloses a container for a magnetic tape cassette in which locking devices formed as pivotable rocker arms lock into the reel hubs of the magnetic cassette as the slider member is pushed in and engage them again when the slider member is adjusted. This operational principle requires however the sliding member to be ejected sufficiently far out of the housing for the reel hub to be exposed, so that the rocker arm can be disengaged from it. Since both reel hubs of the cassette have to be immobilized to secure the tape, this means that when the cassette is inserted longitudinally and the locking devices are arranged one behind the other, the slider has to be ejected virtually completely out of the housing. When such a container is used in motor vehicles the space for the slider member to be ejected such a distance is very frequently not available. Moreover, the ejection of such a distance requires spring elements with correspondingly long spring travels, and the travel member constructions with guides corresponding to the ejection travel. Furthermore, the disengagement depends on a predetermined spring action of the rocker arm which in the engaged state is under constant stress. The spring action weakens through fatigue and after a certain time a reliable disengagement cannot be guaranteed.